Tangled
by Featherain
Summary: TangledStuck AU , Disclaimer: Do not own Homestuck, and this is not for profit. Summary: A long time ago, Jade Harley was taken away by the Condense for her hair that had magical properties. But she longs and fears for the outside world, finding it depressing stuck in her tower. Karkat Vantas is a thief, his bloodline unaccepted, coming from a long line of pick pocketers.


_Featherain... Hi! I sorta grew on the pairing KarkatJade, so here's my fic inspired from the movie Tangled. Humanstuck. Yippeeee. Hope you enjoy! Unproofread, but I guess I'll eventually stop being so lazy?_

_Pleaseeee review!_

_And if anybody's going to Fan Expo next week down at Vancouver, PM me!:D_

* * *

"Why do I have to fucking get the crown?"

"Just go get it and quit your whining," a larger, buff man grouched. "You come from a family of thieves and hated everywhere –pretty sure you've been trained since birth and are better than all of us –unless your bossiness is just you throwing a tantrum?" he taunted, grinning maliciously. His plump face sweated furiously, stinking the air as the Karkat wrinkled his nose at disgust at the smell.

Karkat Vantas groaned, snarling as he dangled about on the rope, carefully climbing downwards.

"Fuck this, fuck my life, fuck -" he grumbled on, snarling as his fingers rubbed red and the rope marks became imprinted into his palm. He desperately swung about to avoid the lights and casting shadows, gritting his teeth in pain. He leaned downwards, his lungs closed up as his fingers stretched –on and on, until they brushed against the tips of the crown and then oh he was almost there –

"_RED ALERT. RED ALERT. TOUCH IS FELT UPON THE ROYAL CROWN."_

"WELL FUCK THIS! PULL ME UP!"

The dark haired boy snatched the crown as the men above threw him onto the roof, immediately breaking into a sprint. The teenager followed by, shoving the crown into his pouch as he ran. He bent down slightly, grabbing fistfuls of dirt and throwing them behind at the guards and horses chasing him as his nails became embedded with dirt. His efforts proven fruitless, however. He cursed, before his eyes widened with impeding doom when coming towards a dead end.

"Hey, crabby temper kid, help us up and we'll drag you with us afterwards," somebody from his gang yelled.

Without further questions, Karkat pushed at them all roughly and urgently, before one by one they landed and plopped onto the other side.

"Alright you fuckasses filled with doughnuts, I'll climb up and you drag me to help, quickly! –"

"Throw us the crown first –"

"Whatever –" he cried back, reaching into his pouch without thinking before he froze and realization struck him. "Wait a minute you dick suckers," the tanned teenager took a step back. "Then you guys are going to run off with it aren't you?"

"We can't afford to get put in jail! You're still young –"

"FUCK NO!"

The boy breaks into a sprint towards the guards chasing him, his eyes opening wide as a plan flashes through his head and then –

He jumps.

He couldn't really _help_ himself but scream, his lungs becoming void of air completely before Karkat Vantas, the boy who for the first time had plan not so preplanned, starts to hack and cough. He crashes into a mud pit –breaking his fall as he breathes out a breath of relief.

Then he runs.

He knew that he couldn't stop for even a minute –the guards would be right behind him and god knows that he should never underestimate the horses. He runs to the point where he's scared that _heck, he could be reaching the edge of the Earth and falling into fucking_ nothingnessat this point if it was _fucking flat_ in the first place. His arm gets scratched around as he rolls and trips, his clothes starting to look as if their very own material were to be mud itself. Small cuts appear, soaking parts of his shirt with blood as they cling onto his dirty skin, sticky.

After tumbling through thickets, climbing trees and cutting through some sort of weird barrier of vines (because where did that come from?) he sees heaven.

So it wasn't heaven. It was just some fucktastic tall tower just hovering above him.

_Perfect._

He _needed_ to get in. Somehow he felt like they wouldn't be able to _see_ this tower, the castle people, although he didn't know why. But he just _knew_ it'd be safe, so he climbed.

Karkat hoisted himself up the almost never-ending wall, brick by brick as he knuckles and knees and legs scraped and blood started to form a stream around his body. He kept on going, on and on before some tiny window appeared, and being the ignorant idiot, he pushed himself up and into the tower.

"Oh god, looks like the crap filled universe decided to not hate my guts today –"

Then he blacked out.

* * *

Jade Harley sighed, pushing up curtains and away books as she tirelessly tried to find more space. She wanted to plant some more pumpkins –there _had_ to be room somewhere!

"Oh gosh Bec, when do you think mother will come? Actually, I guess I hope she doesn't, heheh, because sometimes she likes to mind control me –but don't tell her that! I guess I am glad she did get you, my best friend!" Jade piped up, rambling on as she cuddled her fluffy white dog. She danced carefreely around the wide circular room, her hair beginning to twist around her body before she abruptly stops and laughs.

She bundles up her long, seemingly never-ending trail of black hair as she combs through it idly. "I wonder when the birds will come back with John's, Rose's or Dave's letters? Or do you think maybe mother found out about the letters already?" she panicked, her eyes darting around as the worst case scenarios flash through her mind.

"Mother found trout what already my gill?"

Jade yelps in surprise, before she beams down from the window. "Oh, hi mom! Heheh, nothing!" she giggled nervously, before throwing down her black hair through some sort of bar she had designed. "You're back home early!"

The tall woman laughed as she clutched onto Jade's inky black hair, getting pulled up as she gracefully crawled through the window. "Whale, my dear gill, I just couldn't bear to part with you too long!" she cooed, pushing away her thick and messy dark hair from her face, smiling her sharp pointy teeth as Jade gulped a bit. She kissed her on the top of her head. "I brought some more pumpkin and strawberry seeds, dirt, and physic and fantasy books."

"Oh gosh, really?" Jade squeals, her bright green eyes sparkling with excitement. A high pitched restrained yell resounds from her mouth, as she bobs up and down like a puppy and embracing her mother tightly. "Oh gosh, thank you so much!"

"Now, go sing me the song."

"Oh yeah, heheh, alright!" Jade plopped herself down onto her chair. "But I need the ask you something –"

"Sing and I'll comb your hair now Jade darling –"

"But really, it'll take just a moment, I swear!"

"_Sing it._"

"_Stars in space sparkles,"_ the bubbling girl sings, having trouble to sit still as she forces herself to act patient. The roots of her black hair begin to gleam, shining magically.

"_Stretching endlessly,"_ she gasps, the beautiful bright sparkles growing further down her long hair.

"_Make the clocks reverse," _Jade's sweet voice echoed as the Condense grinned, feeling herself become younger as Jade oblivious continues on. _"To this old melody._"

"_Heal what has been hurt, change the doomed timelines, fight against the signs,_" the bright girl cheered on, her hair lighting up the entire room and resembling the universe itself as the sparkles shone like stars. _"Bend to this melody, this melody._"

Jade's mother laughs, bellowing while patting the petite child. "Now, that wasn't so hard was it my gill?"

"Heheh," Jade giggles. "Nope! I just have this tiny question…"

"Yes?"

"Well, um, you see –" Jade fumbles with the words, stammering. "I'm sixteen now! And I do know," she nods on eagerly, "that I'm still young but I'd _really_ like to see what's out there! The adventures and all! And then every year you know," Jade pipes in desperately, begging her mother. "On my birthday, they have these beautiful fireworks and I can hear the rifling tournaments being held and the –oh gosh!_" _she cries, lost in her world as she echoed dreamily. "The golden lanterns that float like stars! And I know how self-absorbed I must sound, but I just feel like they're for me, you know?"

"No."

"Really?" Jade perks up, "Oh, thank you! –wait what?" Confusion clouds her eyes, her face puzzled.

"No."

"W-what?" Jade splutters. "But I'm –ARGH!"

The teenage girl collapses onto the hard ground, her hair covering and overlapping on top of her. She screams, twitching around uncontrollably as black smoke surrounds her.

"No means no Jade. I have to go soon, but you are _forbidden_ to go, and of course, that's to protect you!" The Condense smiles widely again, flickering her wrist as Jade withered in pain, screeching.

"Can't you see?" she says coldly, as the small girl started to sob and flop against the ground.

"S-stop!" Jade blubbers, clutching her head as she bashed herself onto the stone walls desperately around, as if she was in a seizure. Nightmares soars through her mind, twisting and turning and _oh god the world seemed so terrible. _

_She never wanted to go out there._

_Why did she even bring it up in the first place?_

_They're drowning out there._

_I'm safe here._

_Bombs and explosives. Limbs cut off. I'd never want to go out to the real world!_

_I'm safe here._

_Safe in this tower forever –_

* * *

Jade gasped, lying on the cold ground as she blinked tiredly.

"Do you see now why I want to keep you here? It's for your own good, my gill."

"Yeah…"

* * *

Her mother disappeared.

Jade Harley struggled to pick herself up as she wobbled immediately when standing up, pushing her head out of the window for fresh air.

"Oh god, what a terrible headache…"

Yelps and curses were heard from above, before Jade stumbled backwards in fear. She had never heard another voice before! Was it a terrifying creature that her mother told her about the outside world? The young girl crouched down suddenly, trembling in fear before she peeked out, her long bangs ruffled and messy.

It was a man. At least, she'd assume so. She stared out, and –he didn't look _too_ shabby. Actually _pretty_ cute.

She giggled at the thought.

Maybe it was something about his scowl or the way he seemed to be unafraid of _anything_. Jade could get that vibe from him.

_Wait he's coming this way._

Jade froze, icy fear freezing her heart. What if he was there to cut her hair? Oh gosh, she had heard terrible stories! Jade looked around in a panicked manner, before she threw her huge bundle of hair over a wooden stake above, pulling herself upwards. Her hair draped everywhere, almost decorating the entire room as she clutched her slingshot, terrified.

_Thank goodness_ she had the nerve to make this. She had read about rifles –and thought that she would probably do pretty good at it. It… was familiar. But of course, her mother was ever so against her having one, so Jade put her good aiming skills to use when making the slingshot.

Wasn't that great, but could do.

She bit her lip, no –she wouldn't let anybody hurt her! Jade just _couldn't_ let it happen, no, not ever!

So she took aim, concentrating hard as a speck of black hair poked into her view and then she saw the eyes and the head and the whole boy himself and –

Her heart skipped a beat.

Maybe it was the aura around him. Jade Harley found herself struggling to breathe her throat felt caught –her eyes widening with surprise as her fingers froze at the random piece of pumpkin root used as a weapon in her slingshot.

She let go.

The root flew, taking hit perfectly at the boy's head before he collapsed, probably previously exhausted.

Then Jade Harley screamed her fucking lungs off.


End file.
